Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighted the transformative role of space technology in improving governance and everyday life in India, citing its applications in agriculture, fisheries, disaster management, and infrastructure planning.
Speaking at the National Space Day celebrations in New Delhi, PM Modi said innovations such as satellite-based assessments for crop insurance and geospatial mapping under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan are making governance more efficient and directly benefiting citizens.
“Today, space-tech is becoming an integral part of governance. Whether it is satellite-based assessment in crop insurance, safety for fishermen at sea, disaster management, or the use of geospatial data for infrastructure planning—India’s progress in space is making the lives of ordinary citizens easier,” he said.
The Prime Minister also issued a challenge to India’s growing space start-up ecosystem, asking whether it could produce five unicorns within the next five years. He further urged the private sector to boost India’s launch capacity. “We now see five big launches every year. I want us to aim for 50 launches annually in the next five years—essentially one rocket every week,” PM Modi said.
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan, addressing the event, credited Modi’s “vision and leadership” for the success of Chandrayaan-3, noting that it was the Prime Minister who named the lunar landing site Shiv Shakti Point and declared August 23 as National Space Day.
Narayanan also outlined India’s ambitious future space roadmap. He announced that Chandrayaan-4 and a Venus Orbiter Mission are in the pipeline, while plans are underway to launch the first module of the Bharatiya Antriksh Station (BAS) by 2028, with the station to be fully established by 2035. He added that by 2040, India aims to undertake a manned lunar mission and further elevate its position as a global space leader.
“With the Prime Minister’s approval for the Next Generation Launcher and our roadmap ahead, India will not only reach the moon by 2040 but also bring samples back safely. By then, our space program will be on par with the best in the world,” Narayanan said.